An Open RAN Framework for the Dynamic Control of 5G Service Level Agreements

TL;DR

This paper presents an Open RAN framework that uses closed-loop control and data-driven policies to dynamically enforce SLAs in 5G networks, demonstrating effective near-real-time management on a large-scale emulator.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Open RAN-based approach for dynamic SLA enforcement in 5G, integrating semi-persistent scheduling and customizable control policies.

Findings

Effective SLA management in near-real-time

Successful deployment on large-scale hardware-in-the-loop emulator

Enhanced adaptability of 5G RAN through Open RAN control

Abstract

The heterogeneity of use cases that next-generation wireless systems need to support calls for flexible and programmable networks that can autonomously adapt to the application requirements. Specifically, traffic flows that support critical applications (e.g., vehicular control or safety communications) often come with a requirement in terms of guaranteed performance. At the same time, others are more elastic and can adapt to the resources made available by the network (e.g., video streaming). To this end, the Open Radio Access Network (RAN) paradigm is seen as an enabler of dynamic control and adaptation of the protocol stack of 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) networks in the 5th Generation (5G) and beyond. Through its embodiment in the O-RAN alliance specifications, it introduces the Ran Intelligent Controllers (RICs), which enable closed-loop control, leveraging a rich set of RAN Key Performance Measurements (KPMs) to build a representation of the network and enforcing dynamic control through the configuration of 3GPP-defined stack parameters. In this paper, we leverage the Open RAN closed-loop control capabilities to design, implement, and evaluate multiple data-driven and dynamic Service Level Agreement (SLA) enforcement policies, capable of adapting the RAN semi-persistent scheduling patterns to match users requirements. To do so, we implement semi-persistent scheduling capabilities in the OpenAirInterface (OAI) 5G stack, as well as an easily extensible and customizable version of the Open RAN E2 interface that connects the OAI base stations to the near-real-time RIC. We deploy and test our framework on Colosseum, a large-scale hardware-in-the-loop channel emulator. Results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed Open RAN-based solution in managing SLA in near-real-time.